


Coffee but not really

by projectliteracy



Series: Summer Loving [3]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec is too nervous for his own good, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Bakery and Coffee Shop, Izzy is Malec shipper #1, M/M, asking people out on dates is NOT easy let me tell you, fic three in the series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-14
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-08-08 16:00:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7764097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/projectliteracy/pseuds/projectliteracy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of stories about the relationship of Magnus and Alec that starts out as your usual coffee shop AU :) This time round, they ask each other out?! (After a some failed attempts)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coffee but not really

**Author's Note:**

> 'Ello 'ello. I had a bit of a writers block. So that's why this is so late yeah...  
> It's not my characters yada yada  
> Please do comment to give feedback :)

Magnus was thoroughly enjoying his job now that he had some eye-candy every week. Alexander, that pretty young thing working at The Institute, had taken over Lydia’s role and was coming in to collect the usual meeting order, as well as stopping by twice more in a week with the excuse of picking up some new flavor of cake for his sister to try each time. In the two weeks since they had first met, Magnus had already taken Alec through the entire cake menu save for one flavor. The other desert offerings weren’t as portable so Magnus knew that the other boy wouldn’t take those back for his sister with the notorious sweet tooth. It was most unfortunate that Alec would always come in after work in those instances as that meant it was peak hour and Magnus could not spare time to talk to him. He did however, take a bit longer to serve him, allowing Alec to linger slightly longer than most customers. They had exchanged light conversation and Magnus was very sure that Alec was comfortable with the occasional flirting as well. Hence, on the third week, when Alec walked in ready to buy that last flavor of cake for his sister, Magnus jumped at the chance, afraid of losing the chance to see Alec three times a week rather than once.

“Why hello there Alexander. Today it’s the last flavor of cake we offer here. Now I don’t suppose I could convince you to still come in thrice a week to sample the rest of the deserts could I? I would certainly miss your beautiful face brightening up my day,” teased Magnus. He hoped the other boy would take the hint.

“Well, I don’t really enjoy sweet things so I won’t be sampling the deserts…But Izzy really likes the cakes so I’ll definitely be coming in to buy those for her,” he stammered.

What Alec failed to mention was that he hadn’t realized that he was running out of excuses to come into the shop, so when Magnus mentioned the cake, he quickly decided to keep buying the cakes in rotation. It’s not like Izzy would mind and it certainly helped to distract her during their siblings talks, allowing Alec plenty of time to do the talking – especially about the cute boy at ‘The Cottage’. She was convinced that Magnus really liked Alec and that he should just message him already seeing as he had his number but Alec didn’t really have experience in the flirting department and wasn’t comfortable doing so on the phone nor in person seeing as his face turned red as a tomato anytime he even thought about it. Magnus had been flirting at Alec for some time now and was itching to start flirting _with_. The other boy seemed not to react other than blushing though and Magnus figured it was simply because he wasn’t comfortable with his sexuality. The only way around was to outright ask him out which Magnus did.

“Well, how about coming in another day for a coffee then? I’ll brew you the best coffee you’ve ever tasted!” offered Magnus.

“Ah. I unfortunately don’t actually drink coffee. The caffeine doesn’t sit well with me and makes me too antsy. That’s why I only ever collect the usual meeting order or buy cakes. Thanks for the offer though! Until next time,” replied Alec as he collected the cake, paid and left.

Magnus stared after him, clearly dejected at having not even being considered. But the show must go on, and so Magnus continued working the rest of the night despite his mood having been spoilt some.

* * *

 

“Izzy, I was so flustered because he asked me for coffee me unawares…” Alec recounted the story to Izzy. “So I told him I don’t drink coffee and he offered to show me the other deserts which I can’t bring home like the ice-cream or the crème brulee. This was the hardest he’s ever flirted and I just panicked and- “

“You absolute idiot,” Izzy interrupted. “He offered to get you coffee and asked you to come down to try desserts, he was clearly trying to ask you out you oblivious numbskull”

Alec stared at Izzy as his brain struggled to comprehend what she had just said. When it had finally dawned on him, he groaned and lay his head down on the table, upset at his own stupidity. It’s not like he didn’t want to get to know Magnus, it was quite the opposite actually. He just couldn’t muster up the courage to do so!

“Oh come on, you can’t give up that easily. You have his phone number don’t you?”

“Yes, but you know how I am with phone calls…they make me anxious and I’ve already made a fool of myself”

“Hmm…I could talk to him?”

“Absolutely not…you’d say something embarrassing,” Alec lifted his head from the table and looked at Izzy who was looking at her phone. “Could you actually listen to me and not check your phone? I’m having a crisis here.”

“Relax big bro. I’m just checking the opening hours of this place. You’re in luck! It’s still open. Let’s go and explain things.”

And so, against Alec’s better judgement, the two made their way back to ‘The Cottage’.  

* * *

 

 

Magnus looked up as the bell attached to the door chimed, signifying a customer walking in. It was rare that customers entered so late, by this time, most of the customers were ones who had entered earlier and were just finishing up. But in walked Alexander and a girl, who Magnus recognized to be his sister, Isabelle.

“Magnus right? Nice to meet you, I’m Isabelle, younger sister to this social disaster over here,” Izzy introduced as she held out her hand for Magnus to shake.

“It’s nice to meet you Izzy, can I call you that? I hope you enjoyed all the cake your brother has been bringing back home for you?”

“Oh definitely! In fact, I’m here for a second round just for today and while I’m eating, my brother is here to apologize for not responding with the correct answer. So I will leave the two of you to talk then!”

Magnus looked at Alec, who was determinedly looking everywhere but Magnus with an extremely flushed face. Magnus felt his hope rising and his mood, which had been down since Alexander turned him down, started to improve. He quickly prepared one of the slices of cake for Izzy and as she waltzed away to enjoy it, he turned back to Alexander.

“So Alexander, I didn’t expect to see you again so soon. Not that I’m complaining mind you,” Magnus teased gently, trying to prompt Alec to actually look in his eye and have a conversation.

“Hi…Listen, I am,” Alec took a deep breath and started again. “I’m sorry that I didn’t get the hint earlier because I panicked because I would actually love nothing more than to go on a date with you.”

Magnus couldn’t help but to just remain quiet, trying not to laugh out loud at the fact that the other boy’s face had got progressively redder as he spoke. Alec must have taken this to mean that his apology was unwelcome though as he started blabbering on.

“I mean, if that’s what you’d like? I just thought that you were flirting with me and oh god, were you not actually? I’m so sorry, I’ve never done this before and honestly, you’re a little distracting so my brain isn’t working properly and-“

“Alexander”, Magnus interrupted gently. Alec immediately shut up and nodded. “I would love to go on a date with you and I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable earlier on.”

“That’s uh, really great,” Alec burst into a nervous smile and tried to compose himself. “So a coffee date then, uh but not really.”

“Let’s. We can always figure out the details over text. Right now, I think you should let your sister know you successfully asked me out though, she’s bouncing with anticipation over there. Anyways, I’ve got to close up the shop.”

“Alright, I’ll see you soon Magnus”

“Until next time Alexander”

Magnus watched as Alexander walked over to his sister and got a bear hug. As the two siblings walked out, after waving goodbye, Magnus followed them with his eyes until he couldn’t see them anymore. He texted his friends quickly, updating them on how he’d got a date with a cute boy and that it was a cause for celebration so get ready to go out tonight and party. He was so glad he’d made the decision to take this summer job. Later that night, when he’d returned home, he received a text: ‘Goodnight Magnus – A’. Saving the phone number, he quickly sent one back before getting ready for bed with a smile on his face: ‘Goodnight Alexander- XO Magnus’


End file.
